Gage for sorting leather



(No Model.)

J. E. PLUMMER.

GAGE FOR Somme LEATHER.

No. 448,586. Patented Mair. 17, 1891.

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Fi .2. Mryasszs. g //V'/V7'7/? llNiTED STATES PATENT Fries.

JOHN E. PLUMMER, OF WVATERVILLE, NEW YORK.

GAGE FOR SORTING LEATHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 448,586, dated March 17, 1891.

Application filed July 25, 1890. Serial No. 359,910. (No model.)

To oaZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN E. PLUMMER, of lVaterville, in the county of Oneida and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvem ent in- Leather Sorting and Measuring Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming a part hereof, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 is a front elevation, of my machine.

Leather is now commonly sorted into different lots, the leather of one lot differing from that of another in thickness. The sorting is done, so far as known to me, by hand, and it not unfrequently happens that the leather is not well sorted, the skill of those who do the work varying. It is also a comparatively slow process.

My invention has for its object a machine by which leather may be sorted or its thickness measured quickly and accurately and without the employment of skilled labor; and

it consists in a machine provided with two movable or a movable and a fixed part, between which the leather is placed, the distance of the parts from each other when the leather is between them being indicated by a pointer on a scale, said parts and said pointer being suitably connected, all as will be hereinafter described and as is more particularly set forth in the claims which are appended hereto an form a part hereof. V

1 have shown my invention in the best form now known to me in the accompanying drawin gs, and I will describe the same, having reference thereto.

A is the frame of the machine, which may be of any suitable shape and adapted to be mounted on a bench or other suitable support. It has a fixed forwardly-projecting arm B and a table or work support O. The two parts between which the leather is placed for measurement are shown at d e, the upper part cl having a screw shank or stem which is received in a screw-threaded aperture in the forward end of the arm B and is securely held in position therein by a clamping-n ut f. The precise method of holding the part 01 in place is unimportant. The lower part c is provided with a downwardly-projecting shank or stem g, which preferably slides vertically in a hole in the table and frame of the machine, the frame being formed,as shown at h, to receive said stem or spindle.

The table 0 is secured by a screw or in any other suitable manner to the frame. ln a recess underneath the frame a lever J is pivoted at k, the pivot being comparatively near one end of said lover. The shorter end of said lever projects under the spindle g, and the longer end is provided with a pin Z, which is received in a slot on in the connecting-rod n. The upper end of the said connecting-rod is pivoted at 0 to one end of the bell-crank lever 19, which is pivoted to the upper portion of the frame of the machine. Another connecting-rod q is pivoted at one end to the upwardly-projecting arm of said bell-crank p, and at the other end is pivoted to another bell-crank 7', which latter is also pivoted to the frame of the machine. One arm of the bell-crank r projects forward and is provided with a pointer s, the end of which is turned at right angles and which projects, as shown at Fig. 2, in front of a graded scale 15, which is secured to the forward end of the arm B. A connecting-rod w is pivoted to the lever J and is connected bya treadle, (not shown,) by means of which by the pressure of the foot of the operator the rear end of the lever J may be drawn downwardly. The connecting-rod w is preferablyrigid, so that a spring maybe employed to throw the treadle and connecting-rod upwardly, thus reversing the movement of the lever J when the foot of the operator is removed from the treadle and allowing the part c to drop, permitting the easy insertion of the succeeding piece of leather. The slot-and-pin connection between the rear end of lever J and the connecting-rod n is for the purpose of allowing the forward end of lever J and the piece e to drop, so that the succeeding piece of leather may be easily inserted between the parts (Z 6. Otherwise a fixed pivot would answer instead of the slot and pin. The downward movement of the treadle will operate, as will be clear, to move the pointer s onthe scale. If there is nothing between the parts cl 6, the pointer will rise to zero, and if there is a piece of leather between said parts the pointer will rise in proportion to the thinness of the leather, as will be clear. The spring w, secured at one end to the bellcrank lever 1) and at the other end to the frame, operates to insure the return of the pointer to its normal position after a piece of leather has been measured.

In the machine shown a lot of leather may be sorted into nine lots, each composed of pieces varying in thickness from the others, speedily and accurately. As will be clear, the gradations on the scale may each represent an accurate measurementas, for example, each gradation may represent a tenth of an inch,so that when a piece of leather is measured which brings the pointer to 5 on the scale it will be an indication that the leather is not only to be placed in lot 5, but is fivetenths of an inch in thickness.

In the machine shown the levers are of such size and relation as to cause the space between the parts (Z c to be multiplied thirty times by the pointer on the scale. It will be obvious that this inay be changed, however, as also that the units of the scale may or may not represent a given part of an inch or other standard of measure.

\Vhat I claim is 1. A leather sorting and measuring maerases chine consisting of the fixed part d, the movable part c, co-operating therewith, a pointer and graded scale therefor, the lever J for actuating said part c and said pointer, a series of connecting-levers between said lever J and said pointer, said lever J being connected therewith by a slot-and-pin connection, and suitable means for operating said lever J, for the purposes and substantially as shown and described.

2. A leather sorting and measuring machine consisting of a fixed and a movable part, between which the leather may be inserted, a lever J for operating said movable part, and actuating mechanism for said lever, a link 71, a bell-crank lever 19, connecting-rod q, and a bell-crank lever 1", having a pointer secured thereto, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, on this'21st day of July, A. D. 1890.

JOHN E. PLUMMER. Witnesses:

WM. A. MAoLEon, ROBERT WALLACE. 

